Deliberately detoured a bit down in the Mission flatlands for a different route to Bernal Hill from the 24th and Mission BART. At 28th and San Jose is an inviting little streetside micropark/ gardenspot with "Road Closed" signs and huge silver bucket-type planters. When you're walking, you're much less likely to miss delightful little surprises like this one than when you have to pay attention to your driving.

Heading up the Fair stairway from Mission was when the real hike started (first photo). Bernal's steep up and down streets and various stairways are an excellent workout.

Have decided to revisit some streets and neighborhoods not seen in a while and to retake some NOW photos I started taking back in 2004 that I'm not happy with. As in too far away or too dark. This includes a bunch of Bernal houses.

At the top of the Chapman/Rosenkranz steps, one of the older stairways (fifth photo), paused to admire the view of Bernal south, the Portola, McLaren Park, and San Bruno Mountain beyond with darkening clouds looming. Barely made it home before it started pouring again.